The trials that those men do meet withal, And come, and come, and come again afresh ; O let the pilgrims, let the pilgrims then, Be vigilant, and quit themselves like men. CHR. I am glad, my brother, that thou didst withstand this villain so bravely; for, of all, as thou sayest, I think he has the wrong name; for he is so bold as to follow us in the streets, and to attempt to put us to shame before all men; that is, to make us ashamed of that which is good.* But if he was not himself audacious, he would never attempt to do as he does: but let us still resist him; for, notwithstanding all his bravadoes, he promoteth the fool, and none else. The wise shall inherit glory, said Solomon, but shame shall be the promotion of fools. FAITH. I think we must cry to Him for help against Shame, that would have us to be valiant for truth upon the earth. CHR. You say true; but did that valley? you meet nobody else in FAITH. No, not I; for I had sunshine all the rest of the way through that, and also through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. 66 f Prov. iii. 35. * Christians' experiences perfectly agree in regard to shame. No one ever set out for glory, but he was attacked by shame in the way. Giving way to shame, prevents much glory being brought to our GodJesus, who is not ashamed to call us, who are cursed, hell-deserving sinners, brethren," Heb. ii. 11. Alas! shame to us, we are prone to glory in our shame, and to be ashamed of Christ, of his words, and of his ways, which are our greatest glory. O let us cry for more boldness for Christ, our best friend, that Shame may hide his pitifu. head, and skulk away from us as our greatest enemy! CHR. 'Twas well for you; I am sure it fared far otherwise with me. I had for a long season, as soon almost as I entered into that valley, a dreadful combat with that foul fiend Apollyon; yea, I thought verily he would have killed me, especially when he got me down, and crushed me under him, as if he would have crushed me to pieces; for as he threw me, my sword flew out of my hand: nay, he told me he was sure of me; but I cried to God, and he heard me, and delivered me out of all my troubles. Then I entered into the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and had no light for almost half the way through it. I thought I should have been killed there over and over: but at last day brake, and the sun rose, and I went through that which was behind with far more ease and quiet. Moreover, I saw in my dream, that, as they went on, Faithful, as he chanced to look on one side, saw a man whose name is Talkative, walking at a distance beside them; for in this place there was room enough for them all to walk. He was a tall man, TALKATIVE DEand something more comely at a distance than at hand. To this man Faithful addressed himself in this manner. SCRIBED. FAITH. Friend, whither away? Are you going to the heavenly country? TALK. I am going to the same place. FAITH. That is well: then I hope we shall have your good company. TALK. With a very good will, will I be your companion. * There is a great difference between having notions in the head, and being able to talk of doctrines of grace-and experiencing the grace and power of those doctrines in the heart. Look to yourselves, 2 John 8. FAITH. Come on, then, and let us go together, and let us spend our time in discoursing of things that are profitable. FAITHFUL AND TALKATIVE ENTER INTO DISCOURSE. TALK. To talk of things that are good, to me is very acceptable, with you, or with any other; and I am glad that I have met with those that incline to so good a TALKATIVE'S DIS- Work; for, to speak the truth, there are but few who care thus to spend their time as they are in their travels, but choose much rather to be speaking of things to no profit; and this hath been a trouble to me. LIKE OF BAD DIS- FAITH. That is, indeed, a thing to be lamented; for what things so worthy of the use of the tongue and mouth of men on earth, as are the things of the God of heaven? TALK. I like you wonderfully well, for your sayings are full of conviction; and I will add, what thing is so pleasant, and what so profitable, as to talk of the things of God? What things so pleasant? that is, if a man hath any delight in things that are wonderful. For instance: if a man doth delight to talk of the history or the mystery of things; or if a man doth love to talk of miracles, wonders, or signs, where shall he find things recorded so delightful, and so sweetly penned, as in the holy scripture? FAITH. That's true; but to be profited by such things in our talk, should be that which we design. TALKATIVE'S FINE DISCOURSE. TALK. That is it that I said; for to talk of such things is most profitable; for by so doing a man may get knowledge of many things; as, of the vanity of earthly things, and the benefit of things above. Thus in general: but more particularly, by this a man may learn the necessity of the new birth, the insufficiency of our works, the need of Christ's righteousness, &c. Besides, by this a man may learn what it is to repent, to believe, to pray, to suffer, or the like: by this also a man may learn what are the great promises and consolations of the gospel, to his own comfort. Further, by this a man may learn to refute false opinions, to vindicate the truth, and also to instruct the ignorant.* FAITH. All this is true; and glad am I to hear these things from you. TALK. Alas! the want of this is the cause that so few understand the need of faith, and the necessity of a work of grace in their soul, in order to eternal life; but ignorantly live in the works of the law, by which a man can by no means obtain the kingdom of heaven. FAITH. But, by your leave, heavenly knowledge of these is the gift of God; no man attaineth to them by human industry, or only by the talk of them. TALK. All that I know very well; for a man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven: all is of grace, not of works. OH, BRAVE TALKATIVE! I could give you a hundred scriptures for the confirmation of this. FAITH. Well, then, said Faithful, what is that one thing that we shall at this time found our discourse upon? TALK. What you will: I will talk of things heavenly, or things earthly; things moral, or things evangelical; things sacred, or things pro OH, BRAVE TALKATIVE! Is not here the very standard of orthodoxy? Hence observe, a mere professor may learn, like a parrot, to talk of sound doctrines, and he may have a sound judgment about them; while his heart is rotten, as to any experience of them, love to them, and the power and influence of them upon his affections and his life. Many own Christ for their master now, whom he will condemn hereafter as their judge. P fane; things past, or things to come; things foreign, or things at home; things more essential, or things circumstantial, provided that all be done to our profit. FAITH. Now did Faithful begin to wonder; and stepping to Christian, (for he walked all this FAITHFUL BEGUIL ED BY TALKATIVE. while by himself,) he said to him, but softly, What a brave companion have we got! Surely this man will make a very excellent pilgrim. CHR. At this Christian modestly smiled, and said, This man, with whom you are so taken, CHRISTIAN MAKES A DISCOVERY ОР TALKATIVE, TELLING FAITHFUL WHO HE WAS. FAITH. DO will beguile with this tongue of his, twenty of them that know him not. you know him, then? CHR. Know him! Yes, better than he knows himself. FAITH. Pray what is he? CHR. His name is Talkative: he dwelleth in our town. I wonder that you should be a stranger to him; only I consider that our town is large. FAITH. Whose son is he? and whereabout doth he dwell? CHR. He is the son of one Say-well, he dwelt in Prating-row; and he is known to all that are acquainted with him by the name of Talkative, of Prating-row; and, notwithstanding his fine tongue, he is but a sorry fellow.* FAITH. Well, he seems to be a very pretty man. CHR. That is, to them that have not a thorough acquaintance with him, for he is best abroad; near home Are we not forbid to speak evil of any man? Titus iii. 2. Is not Christian guilty of this? No, for where the glory of God and the honour of the gospel is at stake, and there is danger of a brother's being deceived by a mere talkative, loose, wicked professor, here it is right, and the nature of things require it, that we should detect and expose such in a becoming spirit. |